How to do RESTful SEARCH (was Re: Adding POST capability to atom:link)

[Lisa Dusseault]

On Oct 26, 2006, at 1:02 PM, Jan Algermissen wrote: If you aim to provide a REST interface, do not mimick a query interface (at least not a complex one). Think of your 'asset space' in terms of pre-defined, useful collections that you expose as resources (feeds) and provide light weight query interfaces to them that fit with GET requests. Think in terms of browsing and drilling-down; REST interfaces guide the client into the content instead of assuming the knowledge to construct a query does reside in the client. This is an interesting assertion about REST.  I don't yet agree with it as stated though I might after further discussion and elaboration.  To provide a possible counter-example, I always found the HTTP SEARCH proposal <http://www.greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/draft-reschke-webdav-search-latest.html> to be RESTful because - The results of a search are returned as a set of resource identifiers - It doesn't necessarily break for dynamic resources as long as the server can handle that - It doesn't break the layering of representations, or use of connectors, or caching of resources - It's general -- can be used for WebDAV resources but also for any HTTP server, CalDAV resources or probably (with some thought) Atom resources A server that instead provides light-weight query interfaces as you describe, or guides the client into the content, does not work with a client that doesn't do HTML (a CalDAV, WebDAV or possibly Atom authoring client); correct? Lisa